Covert Camera Equipment

vernell

Hi

Im lookiung into purchasing a covert camera to enable me to carry out video mystery shops. I can see lots of different ones on Ebay, some of which are going very cheap but I dont fully know what spec would be best to get. Does anyone on here do these kinds of mystery shops and if so, what would be the lowest spec video camera I would need? I have seen good car key cameras which are going for only a couple of pounds so was wondering if they would be any good.

Thanks

shopbot

Are you doing this covert filming as part of your job?

If so then why isn't your employer providing this equipment or providing a list of recommended equipment?

patman99

I would hazard a guess that the op is planning on using any footage of bad customer service to make 'video shorts' to place on Youtube in the hope of attracting advertising revenue.

shopbot

patman99 wrote: »

I would hazard a guess that the op is planning on using any footage of bad customer service to make 'video shorts' to place on Youtube in the hope of attracting advertising revenue.

I wasn't aware of that until now.

Not a great thing to be honest if the purpose is to drive advertising revenue. If hits drive revenue then I can see staff baiting and contrived situations taking place to get the cash.

Whether legal or not I don't see it as ethical. The member of staff gets no right of reply, it can be edited to change the viewers perspective and someone who is just doing a job has the possibility that they are being covertly filmed and broadcast to show them in a bad light.

SB

DevilsAdvocate1

vernell wrote: »

Hi

Im lookiung into purchasing a covert camera to enable me to carry out video mystery shops. I can see lots of different ones on Ebay, some of which are going very cheap but I dont fully know what spec would be best to get. Does anyone on here do these kinds of mystery shops and if so, what would be the lowest spec video camera I would need? I have seen good car key cameras which are going for only a couple of pounds so was wondering if they would be any good.

Thanks

Key fob cameras are not going to be accepted. The companies want good footage, not the lowest quality.

Its pretty standard for companies to want you to have a BU18 button camera with a PVO500 EVO unit. You will also need good quaility SD cards.

vernell

Thanks DevilsAdvocate, Ill price one up now. I have done covert camera work for two comapnies in the past who have provided me with the equipment but Im now being offered jobs by other companies who expect me to have my own and if the cameras are not that expensive, it may be worth my while investing in one in order to get more jobs in....Speculate to accumulate so to speak. I have no intention of placing any footage on YouTube, between holding down a job, having a young baby, husband and house to look after and these mystery shops I barely have time to do my hair in the morningsa, let alone post random videos on Youtube

Thank you.

whitelabel

check out the msytery shopping thread - the sticky at the top of this forum and previous threads
Seach camera in there and it will bring up most posts relating to previous discussion and reviews, what to avoid etc
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4177927

as mentioned above, anything other than a button cam (sony ccd lens) isnt likely to be accepted.
There is only one main supplier in the uk beyond ebay, dogcamsport they have the full kits there

DevilsAdvocate1

vernell wrote: »

Thanks DevilsAdvocate, Ill price one up now. I have done covert camera work for two comapnies in the past who have provided me with the equipment but Im now being offered jobs by other companies who expect me to have my own and if the cameras are not that expensive, it may be worth my while investing in one in order to get more jobs in....Speculate to accumulate so to speak. I have no intention of placing any footage on YouTube, between holding down a job, having a young baby, husband and house to look after and these mystery shops I barely have time to do my hair in the morningsa, let alone post random videos on Youtube

Thank you.

As Whitelabel says, I bought mine from Dogcam Sport. Think it was about £600 in total. Might be a bit cheaper at the minute as a new camera is due out. When I ordered a backup camera 2 weeks ago I was told that they were running down the stock ready for the new one.

I get my SD cards from Play.com and think they are around £8 for an 8GB good quality one. Its worth getting good quality ones as you don't get paid if the visits don't record. I once had one where just 3 seconds of footage was missing the sound and the company refused to pay for it.

HTH.

eddie_rex

theres a lot of hit and miss with video mystery shopping. these companies offer little or no training and pay next to nothing. also if you make the slightest mistake they will not pay you at all. good luck

spacey2012

How long to even get back outlay ?
Mystery shopping is a hobby at best.

If it paid they would employ people.

DevilsAdvocate1

spacey2012 wrote: »

How long to even get back outlay ?
Mystery shopping is a hobby at best.

If it paid they would employ people.

It took me a long time because there are a lot of video shoppers who are already established in my area. I really struggled to get companies to take me on. I have now started travelling to cities around 2 hours away and doing up to 4 days work there.

I am hoping that eventually I will get more work in my area as I don't really want to be travelling so far.

As a mystery shopper, you are self employed and the risk is all yours. I travelled this weekend and had 2 visits fail. I still made a profit but it definitely wasn't as worthwhile as I would have liked. Also some visits ran on too much, so I had to cut one off at the end as I ran out of time. This means I'll have to go back later this week. Hoping I can get some more work otherwise it won't be worthwhile.

Framing is very important too. So you need to practice a lot before you start doing visits. Most companies want the sales person in the frame at least 60% of the time. It can be quite difficult to not chop off the sales person's head. Especially if you are short like me. If there is an 8 foot tall person in the building you can guarantee he will serve me!

Still, I do enjoy it. But sometimes I think I would be better with a proper job.